- New catenary system construction on the Münchendorf – Wampersdorf section in Lower Austria will become a high-performance connection and represents part of the expansion of European railway infrastructure
EQOS Energie, one of the leading service providers of complex network infrastructure, was awarded the commission for the new construction of catenary systems on the “Pottendorf Line” in the Münchendorf-Wampersdorf section in Lower Austria by ÖBB. As part of this project worth approximately EUR 5 million, the previous one-track railway section will be newly designed, and EQOS Energie will install the catenary system for the newly constructed two-track section. As the core piece of the Pottendorf Line expansion, construction of the catenary system at the Ebreichsdorf railway station, which will be newly built, is also included in the scope of services. Furthermore, up until commissioning, EQOS Energie will also be responsible for all dismantling work required as part of the new construction. This high-traffic railway section is not only one of the key connections from Vienna going south but also one of the most significant sections for the expansion of European railway infrastructure. By the end of 2023, this project will create a high-performance connection with speeds of about 200 km/h between the nodes of Vienna and Wiener Neustadt (Vienna New Town).
Carsten Kuhle, Managing Director of Railway Technology at EQOS Energie, commented on this commission: “We are very proud to execute this construction of the new high-speed catenary system in this location, which is unique in terms of traffic planning. This way, we make a contribution to rendering traffic connections more efficient, not only in Austria but in all of Europe as well, in order to ensure that thousands of commuters and millions of tonnes of goods reach their destination more quickly than ever.” This is because the railway section between Münchendorf and Wampersdorf is part of the southern route expansion, one of the largest and most spectacular infrastructure projects for the next few decades, and is also one of the sections of the ÖBB railway network operating with greatest capacity utilisation.
New railway station design and installation of 350 masts and 27 kilometres of catenary lines
Overall, EQOS Energie will construct about 350 masts by means of truck-mounted cranes and low-loaders over a construction field length of 10 kilometres over a project duration of three years. The pre-fitting labor for the masts will be performed on the route itself as well as in the new Ebreichsdorf railway station, which will be newly designed as a core component of the ÖBB project. During this project, about 27 kilometres of catenary lines as well as 45 kilometers of reinforcement lines and return conductors will be installed. “For our customer ÖBB, we are already working in a neighbouring region, which provides us with a lot of synergy effects, e.g. during work planning or scheduling and allows us to implement the project even more efficiently,” said Bernhard Schuller, head of the profit center Austria in EQOS Energie’s Railway Technology division.
By the 2023 train schedule change, all measurement runs, inspections and initial dismantling of the one-track section and within the railway station are to be completed, so that the route section can be put into operation. The remaining work can follow by early 2024.
Strategic focus for the expansion of European railway infrastructure
The Pottendorf Line is part of the Baltic-Adriatic traffic corridor, which connects important European sea ports on the Baltic Sea with those on the Adriatic Sea. It runs through Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia and Italy. At the same time, it connects numerous economic regions along this important transport axis. With this core network, the European Union has defined strategic focal points for the expansion of European railway infrastructure.
Photo: ÖBB/Florian Frey